Blaze is inaccurate

[Mggriffin]

My wife and I both have Blazes. We check them against each other when we go to the gym and the results are not even close to each other. When we compare known distances on the gym track to the readout on the Blazes not only is the reading way off, hers and mine are not even close to each other. We have been through the HR, The Surge and now Blaze and have had nothing but problems and customer service has not been able to resolve them. So we just use them for time and date.

Mike Griffinn

[Corvettekid]

MG, alot of us have noted the problems.  I have my Blaze for about 6 weeks and I like it but the accuracy on steps and distance is off by 20-30%.

We're waiting to hear back from FitBit.  The Mods have to stop acting like the problem is we don't know how to use the thing, it's the built-in software.

[Mggriffin]

I agree and thanks for the reply. I don't even call customer service anymore. I am tired of the excuses.

Mike

Sent from my iPad

[Mggriffin]

I agree. I have X quit calling customer service because they just are in denial about the problems. Thank you for the reply.

Mike

[Rich_Laue]

@Mggriffin the track would be the only place at the gym where i would think that you attire your wife would get simaler miles.  Unless ypu and her habe the same stride i would not expect step count to be close. 

If your indoors you will need to turn the GPS of, and set the stride up.  You know how far one loop around the track is, have the Fotbit revitalize the steos for one loop. Toy nows have enough data to set the stride up.

[AngelaMa]

Hello @Mggriffin it's great to have you here! As mentioned by @Rich_Laue for the information to be the same on both devices, the profile information ( age, height, weight, etc...  ) needs to be the same. Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for motion patterns most indicative of people walking. One condition for a motion pattern to be recognized as a step is the motion must be large enough. The algorithm implements this by setting a threshold. If a motion and its subsequent acceleration measurement data meet the threshold, the motion will be counted as a step. If that threshold is not met, the algorithm won’t count the motion as a step. Other factors can create enough acceleration to meet our threshold and therefore cause some over counting of steps, such as riding on a bumpy road. Equally, it's possible for the algorithm to undercount (not meet the required acceleration threshold). Examples here include walking on a very soft surface such as a plush carpet or using an exercise machines. @Rich_Laue and @Corvettekid thanks for your cooperation! 🙂 

Hope this helps! 

[rachellee34]

My best friend and I are built very similarly, height/weight/etc., and recently she wore a ChargeHR and I wore my FitBit Blaze while on vacation walking around an amusement park. We were essentially attached at the hip all day. Her ChargeHR racked up 25% more than my Blaze (2500+ steps more). The Blaze is rather disappointing, and I wish I would have just purchased another ChargeHR when mine broke in month 13 because I felt like it was far more accurate on step counts.

[Jrdubyakc]

@rachellee34 Just because your friend's Charge had more steps doesn't necessarily mean it was the more accurate device. 

Have you taken it out for a 100 count step test?  To do this, go somewhere that you can take 100 steps uninterrupted.  Be still for 15 seconds (to account for any lag in step count) and then note your number of steps. Walk 100 steps and hold still for 15 seconds (again, to allow for any lag) and then check the total.  Does it increase somewhere between 95-105 steps?

Also, did you both have the same wrist setting selected?  If you have it set for dominant it will be less sensitive to movement. Non-dominant will be more sensitive.  You just have to experiment with those to see what works best with the way you move. I know with mine, I was getting some extra steps counted for cooking/cleaning type activities. I have since set it for dominant even thought I wear it on my non-domninant wrist and it has been much more accurate for me.

[Corvettekid]

"My best friend and I are built very similarly, height/weight/etc., and recently she wore a ChargeHR and I wore my FitBit Blaze while on vacation walking around an amusement park. We were essentially attached at the hip all day. Her ChargeHR racked up 25% more than my Blaze (2500+ steps more). The Blaze is rather disappointing, and I wish I would have just purchased another ChargeHR when mine broke in month 13 because I felt like it was far more accurate on step counts."

That's what is so frustrating about The Blaze:  the earlier FitBit models seemed to have no problems getting steps and distance correct.  I don't know what is different with the Blaze -- software, where it is worn/held, new chips, etc. -- but SOMETHING changed.

We all seem to be off by 20-30% on steps/distance.  You would think that FitBit tech support could isolate the problem by now.

Angela, what is taking so long ?

[Mggriffin]

This is the biggest pile of nonsense I have ever heard. Bottom line, these things don't work as advertised. Mine went in the trash .

Mike

Sent from my iPad

Moderator edit: word choice

[Mggriffin]

These things have way too many problems to deal with. I have tried the HR, The Surge and now the Blaze. None of them were accurate. I'm done.

Mike

[bbarrera]

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@Corvettekid wrote:

That's what is so frustrating about The Blaze:  the earlier FitBit models seemed to have no problems getting steps and distance correct.  I don't know what is different with the Blaze -- software, where it is worn/held, new chips, etc. -- but SOMETHING changed.

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Indeed, the Fitbit Zip and One have very good accuracy because they were worn on belt or in pocket. Its relatively easy to track steps from that location on the body. The problem with wrist worn devices is the tracker "sees" movement from both walking and swinging arms. That makes it more difficult to accurately count steps, and there are many research papers on how to solve the problem.

[Corvettekid]

"Indeed, the Fitbit Zip and One have very good accuracy because they were worn on belt or in pocket. Its relatively easy to track steps from that location on the body. The problem with wrist worn devices is the tracker "sees" movement from both walking and swinging arms. That makes it more difficult to accurately count steps, and there are many research papers on how to solve the problem."

But that would seem to lead to an OVERCOUNTING and everyone here is getting UNDERCOUNTING on steps and distance.

[bbarrera]

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@Corvettekid wrote:

But that would seem to lead to an OVERCOUNTING and everyone here is getting UNDERCOUNTING on steps and distance.

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@Corvettekid ??? I didn't say that.... Consider that swinging arms and legs partially cancel each other out, making it difficult for the tracker to detect a step. That would lead to undercounting.

The papers that I've seen, for example in this one Table 2 shows that wrist worn devices typically undercount.

[rtvaughan5]

Using Nike and Garmin 305 Forrunner I complete 5 miles. My Blaze shows 3.4 miles on a good day. Generally lower than that. My friend who is right beside me will show 4.5 miles. My stride shows 25.5 hers is 25.3. I bought the Baze 6 months after the Charge for the GPSand thinking it would be more accurate!

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there everyone! Good to see you participating in the Community! 🙂

This has actually been noticed by us and we've forwarded the information to our development team for them to check on it and we hope we can get an update on this soon so that this accuracy issue gets fixed.

Thank you all for your understanding and patience with this!

[Corvettekid]

"This has actually been noticed by us and we've forwarded the information to our development team for them to check on it and we hope we can get an update on this soon so that this accuracy issue gets fixed. Thank you all for your understanding and patience with this!"

Ferdinand, no offense but are you just here to put a band-aid on a fatal bleeding injury ?  

We have been here for MONTHS and we keep getting either bogus non-fixes or posts like yours saying that FitBit is aware of the problem.  You say you "forwarded" the information to your "development team" -- the same team that released this flawed product ?  You HOPE that we can get an update on this soon ?

Sorry, we need a formal statement, and acknowledgment of the problem, and a promise that a fix is coming in days or a new FitBit product or refund is forthcoming.

I think this is not about fixing your product but about protecting FitBit's stock price.

To be perfectly blunt, FitBit and the Moderator's response to our problems the last 4 months is nothing less than disgraceful.  You have severely damaged your brand and don't be suprised to see it reflected in lousy reviews on CNET, Amazon, etc.